Reader Reviews

Gran TorinoRetired auto worker and Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski resents the changes happening in the world around him. His neighbors have either moved away or died, replaced by Hmong immigrants he despises.

When a gang forces his shy teenaged neighbor, Thao, to try to steal his car, Walt gets involved, earning the admiration of his neighbors and the enmity of the gang.

Through Thao and his family's unrelenting kindness, Walt eventually comes to understand certain truths about the people next door. And about himself. These people--provincial refugees from a cruel past--have more in common with Walt than he has with his own family, and reveal to him parts of his soul that have been walled off since the war...like the Gran Torino preserved in the shadows of his garage.